Eating Disorders Don’t Discriminate!

Culture, Race & Ethnicity

The rate of eating disorders is similar among Non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics, African-Americans, and Asians in the United States, with the exception that anorexia nervosa is more common among Non-Hispanic Whites (Hudson et al., 2007; Wade et al., 2011).

LGBTQ Community

15 percent of gay & bisexual men reported having a full or sub-threshold eating disorder at some point in their life, versus 4.6 percent of straight males

Gay males are 7x more likely to binge & 12x more likely to purge than straight males

Members of the LGBT community are at a higher risk of developing bulimia and anorexia nervosa

In the United States, approximately 3% of men identify as being gay or bisexual; however, studies show that up to 42% of men who present with eating disorders identify as being gay or bisexual

Lesbian women report higher levels of self-esteem regarding their body & sexual attractiveness. They also have a decreased tendency to adopt cultural standards for physical appearance

Age & Eating Disorders

While it was once believed that eating & body image concerns were limited to adolescent or young adult females, research tells us that in the past decades…

More women of diverse ages are admitting that they struggle with body image & disordered eating

While the reasons for this are complex & not yet fully understood, we know that in today’s contemporary society, women experience unprecedented stress due to: